


Wingman

by Carol_Molliniere



Series: The Society of Weird Feelings [5]
Category: The Glass Scientists (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, M/M, aside from trying to get people with other people, nothing much to this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 03:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12182397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carol_Molliniere/pseuds/Carol_Molliniere
Summary: Helsby just wants Virginia to go on a date, but Virginia sees he wants a date of his own too.





	Wingman

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a 5 + 1 fanfic, but then I realized that would be too long, so I just dropped it and put it into this much shorter oneshot.
> 
> This is based slightly off authorloremipsum's Cold As Ice and spiritoflondonatnight's Of Moles and Men on Tumblr - you'll know it if you read it!
> 
> This work and all works in The Society of Weird Feelings after this will be set after That One Betting Pool.

It wasn't everyday that Virginia Ito agreed to go out with their fellow Lodgers. A night out on the town wasn't a rare thing for the Lodgers at the Society of Arcane Sciences – some liked to drink, some liked the camaraderie it brought, and some just wished to drown their sorrows. Virginia was always more of an introverted soul, though, and not many of their colleagues thought to bring them sometimes – but lately, on the occasions that they did, Virginia didn't tell them no.

On a night like this, though, Virginia wished they had.

“I thought you said you would be taking me to a small pub,” they said as their eyes looked over the large, crowded, and noisy pub.

Seated at their left, Ranjit Helsby only clapped a hand on their shoulder. “Wouldn't be that much fun if we went somewhere quiet, now would it? Besides, this is a good place to loosen up and meet new people!”

Seeing a man picking his nose from the table in front of them, Virginia frowned. “Maybe not,” they said.

“Come on,” Helsby said, “you have got to be prepared for what we've got in store the moment you accept our invitations, Ito!” Then he pointed at someone sitting at the table in a corner, who looked away the moment he realized he was being pointed at.

“That man has been staring at you since you entered!” Helsby told them. “Don't you think he's smitten?”

“It's either that, or I look much like a mad scientist to him,” Virginia replied, gesturing to the various bottles on their hip.

Helsby laughed. “What a joke! She's funny, right?”

“I would say that wasn't intended as a joke,” Archer said his seat at Virginia's other side. “But hey, Miss Ito, you've got to meet other people. I've met loads of people out in pubs such as these that I find quite...interesting.”

Virginia narrowed their eyes at him. “How so?”

“They've got connections to the coming Blackfog Bazaar,” Archer whispered.

“Jekyll wouldn't like that,” Sinnett said, trying to laugh beside him.

Virginia looked to Sinnett – he had been the one who invited them this time. “Did Helsby tell you that he was going to put me in such a position?”

Sinnett put his hands up. “He only said he was going to try to get you to have a little fun,” he said.

“Like he doesn't have any ulterior motives.” Virginia crossed their arms, glaring at Helsby again, who started to sweat under their gaze.

This wasn't the first time Helsby had tried to get Virginia to start trying out a romantic relationship. In his quest to gather information – or sometimes gossip – on his fellow Lodgers, Helsby had found that Virginia had not been involved in any romance of any kind. It was normal, considering the path Virginia had taken for themselves: rogue science wasn't exactly something people thought befitted a marriageable young lady in London. But Helsby had asked, and learned that Virginia hadn't thought of romance at all, unlike some of their female peers. So the man took it upon himself to try a little matchmaking – he had to know what kind of man (or woman, on quite a lot of occasions) struck Virginia Ito's fancy. And Virginia was, quite frankly, damn sick of it.

“Now, now, Miss Ito,” a calm voice said, and Helsby looked up to see Martin Mosley putting a hand in between them. “I'm sure Helsby doesn't mean any harm trying to figure out how your heart works when it comes to romance.”

“I'm just saying he could afford not to push his nose into my personal life, trying to match me with all these people,” Virginia said to Mosley. “He's just looking for more things to gossip about when it comes to our romances.”

“I am not,” Helsby insisted. “And who knows, you could meet someone who makes you smile every day! I'm more invested in your happiness, Ito; have a little faith in me.”

“Oh, I'm sure you were invested in my happiness when you lot started that betting pool about who would take my virginity,” Archer said with a hand over his mouth.

Helsby frowned. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Sinnett looked at Virginia. “I don't know about Helsby, Ito, but I do wonder about who will take care of you when you get old. Don't you need someone else for that?”

“I can take care of myself, Sinnett,” Virginia told him, a little more gently. “And even if I need someone, I think I'm stuck with you rogue scientists – you'd take better care of me than some bloke picked off the streets.”

Sinnett seemed to be thoroughly impressed by their answer, but Helsby wasn't as he looked back to them. “So you're really only looking for friends to spend the rest of your life with? I'm not buying it.”

“I don't care if you do or not; I'm not going over to that man just because you asked me to.” Virginia turned away.

Mosley sighed, and shook his head. “Miss Ito, personally, I think it's a good step you've taken that you've decided to come with us on a night out. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do – just being here is enough.”

“No, it isn't!” Helsby said suddenly. “Ito needs to explore opportunities in love – she won't know until she tries, right?”

“I think I've already weighed the matter in my mind – it's not a good idea.”

“Think of it as an experiment, Ito! Like all scientists do!”

Virginia huffed. “Fine, if you're so insistent on it!” they said, standing up. “But if you see that nothing is going well, order me another round of whiskey.”

The boys whistled and cheered as Virginia took a shot of whiskey from the barmaid who had arrived at their table, and downed it in one gulp, before walking over to the table in the corner. A few paces away, they looked over their shoulder, and saw Helsby giving them a thumbs-up, while scooting closer to Mosley.

Virginia raised an eyebrow, but paid it no more mind.

 

* * *

 

To be honest, the conversation with the man at the table hadn't gone badly. He and Virginia made a little small talk, and anything about mad science being the devil's work hadn't made its way in at all. Yet Virginia couldn't help but have their eyes wander back to the table of their fellow Lodgers, if only to see whether they were watching them or not.

For the three times that Virginia had looked over in their direction, they had noticed that Helsby was getting closer and closer to Mosley, speaking to him about things that made Helsby blush a little but elicited no obvious reaction from Mosley. Archer had left the table to talk with the bartender about something, but Sinnett showed no sign of leaving himself and everytime he commented on something Helsby said, Helsby frowned.

Virginia looked back at the man beside them enough times to be polite, though, but a small part of their brain wondered what was going on with Helsby. It wasn't enough to make what the man in front of them was saying distant, but they could go without talking about the technicalities of driving carriages in London a little longer. (Virginia had learned that the man they were talking to was a footman to one of England's socialites.)

“But enough about me; I've been the one staring at you and I've only been talking about myself,” the footman said. “What about you? You've come in with a group of men, so I assume you aren't any ordinary lady.”

“I hope you aren't assuming I work in the world's oldest profession,” Virginia said. “I've only come with them because they invited me, and I'm their friend.”

“Friend, I see,” the footman said. “Then what is your profession, if it involves you working with other men?”

Virginia thought about it, and wondered if they wanted to keep it a secret: their logical mind told them not to, but they had drank enough alcohol to want to tell him. They coughed, and then decided to take the middle route. “We're experimental investigators,” they said. “A lot of it's under wraps, but all of London will see what we do soon enough.”

“Oh, a woman with an education,” the footman said, grinning – he seemed a little drunk himself. “Charming.”

Virginia raised their eyebrows – if this man thought it strange, he sure had a good way of not showing it. They were about to take another drink when they heard who could only be Archer shout something as he returned to the Lodgers' table. They looked up to see Archer wrap an arm around Helsby's neck just as he had apparently said something that made Mosley laugh, and Helsby suddenly snapped at him.

Normally even a drunk Helsby would have appreciated a gesture such as that – so why was he snapping at Archer?

A thought crossed their mind.

Helsby was the biggest gossip in the Society of Arcane Sciences, but even then he was prone to keeping his own secrets. He needed an outlet for his frustrations stemming from these secrets, though, and Virginia was a dependable shoulder to cry on, if not a brutally honest one.

That was how Virginia came to know of Helsby's crush on a certain hollow Earth submariner.

Virginia saw what was happening now.

“Pardon me, sir, but I have to go to my friends,” they said, standing up from the table.

“Oh, at least tell me your name!” the footman said. “Or let me tell you mine! I'm William Jones!”

Virginia sent him a small smile. “I'll be sure to remember that,” they said, before leaving.

Sinnett and Mosley were trying to handle the situation by keeping Archer and Helsby away from each other when Virginia came over, and called their attention.

“It's unfortunate to say that I forgot something back at the Society,” Virginia said. “Besides, it looks like we need to take Archer back home to his husband.”

“No, w'don't,” Archer said, stumbling even as he leaned on Sinnett.

“I guess we do.” Sinnett nodded. “Come on, Hel–”

“Mosley and Helsby can go home by themselves; you know they both have a higher alcohol tolerance than Archer,” Virginia said. “And I think they both need a moment alone together.”

Sinnett blinked, before nodding. “If you say so, Ito.” He waved at Helsby and Mosley. “I hope you two have fun together.”

Mosley waved, while Helsby looked up at Virginia. Virginia sent him a larger smile than they had the footman.

“If you wanted to be alone with Mosley, then you could have just said so,” they told him. “You're the worst at flirting.”

Helsby sat there with his mouth open, as he watched Virginia, Archer, and Sinnett leave, before grinning widely.

“Hah, I guess you're invested in my happiness, too, Ito,” he said to himself.

“What?” Mosley asked.

 


End file.
